Coronavirus: Venezuela's Open Air Market and other news

I last wrote about coronavirus in Venezuela back on June 28th. At that time, per Worldometer, there were only 5,297 cases. Since then daily cases have increased dramatically above the levels seen in June. The first case of COVID-19 in Venezuela was in mid-March. Was Venezuela really able to keep control of the spread through much of June before cases started to get out of hand? Or has something changed that resulted in Venezuela being able to better report the spread of the virus? In that June 28th post, I mentioned that UNICEF had sent a third shipment of humanitarian supplies to the country. Perhaps testing kits are starting to flood the country? Per Worldometer, Venezuela has conducted a large number of tests (when compared to their South American peers). Unfortunately, the site doesn't have a graph that shows how testing has increased over time so I don't know if testing kits have started to flood the country starting in July.

OPEN AIR MARKET

Reuters (Aug 4) reported that in Caracas the spread of the virus could be pinned on a open air market called the Coche Wholesale Market: 

Venezuela capital Caracas’ largest produce market is at the center of a worsening COVID-19 outbreak, but cash-strapped merchants refuse to stop hawking food there for the city’s 5 million residents, many of whom are starving. 

  . . . Coche is a “potential site of high contagion” due to its lack of social distancing, Jose Manuel Olivares, a health advisor to opposition leader Juan Guaido, said in an interview. 

Okay, I keep hearing educated people in America stating that the virus doesn't spread very well outdoors. And yet here we have Reuters reporting that this market is resulting in the spread of the virus. But then the article ends with this quote:

Coche administrator [Walter Rivera] said in the last few weeks they carried out 4,500 rapid antibody tests there, with only one positive result. “We’re working so that they don’t shut the market,” he said.

Hmm, is the virus really spreading through this market or did Reuters just write up an article that supports the political opposition? That last quote really makes me question if the assumption of this article is true: one positive case out of 4,500 tests? 

OTHER VENEZUELA COVID-19 NEWS 

Reuters (Aug 7) also has this report that really makes one flash back to visuals coming out of India:

Local rights groups say authorities are handing out such punishments around the country for infractions ranging from not queuing correctly for groceries to disobeying curfews.

One group, Provea, on July 31 posted a video on Twitter apparently showing a soldier in western Tachira state ordering three young men to do pushups while saying “I should not be in the street.”

CGTN (Aug 14) reports that a governor has died: 

Dario Vivas, the governor of Venezuela's capital Caracas district, died on Thursday of COVID-19 at 70 years old, officials said.

Vivas, a senior member of the ruling socialist party and a strong ally of President Nicolas Maduro, had said on Twitter on July 19 that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was going into self-isolation.

At what point does President Nicolas Maduro come down with the virus? One has to speculate that the CIA is trying to get people who work closely with Madura infected with the virus.

Finally, BBC (Aug 4) has an article up about how this virus can change opinions regarding certain groups of people rather quickly:

Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra signed a decree which exempts qualified foreign doctors and nurses from having to validate their degrees.

Peru has more than 430,000 cases of coronavirus and its health service has been struggling.

More than 830,000 Venezuelans have arrived in the country in recent years. 

As I reported here, it doesn't mean that Venezuelans aren't currently having to return back to their home country, but it does indicate how your profession can impact how welcoming a foreign government might be to an immigrant. This, of course, is bad news for Venezuela as they probably need those professionals to return to the country.